Although recommendations to carry out roadside surveys were made in the Blennerhassett committee report of 1976, no such surveys were subsequently carried out in Great Britain. As a consequence, although data suitable for monitoring current levels of drink/driving for specific groups (e.g. accident involved road users, including fatalities) exist, no contemporary information is available from which direct estimates can be made of the proportion of drivers on the road who have been drinking. This report describes a trial carried out at 48 urban and rural sites in two English counties during the spring of 1988; the surveys were administered between the hours of 10 PM and 3 AM on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights over an eight-week period. Respondents were asked to reply to a questionnaire and to give a sample of their breath in order to establish their breath alcohol concentration. The surveys were well received by the driving public, and response rates were high; results are presented in relation to 2656 drivers. (Author/publisher)
Abstract